Having a CCW or carrying for your OWN protection has nothing to do with running to the aid of other people. Pretty sure that was the point of the OP and this thread.

I don't understand what you are not understanding.

And yet there have been numerous stories on this sight, icluding a video of some old guy in a cafe hopping up, pulling out his pistol, and putting numerous rounds into a bad guy that had not threatened him at that point.

I guess I am cut from a different cloth because if I had a chance to stop a shooter, whether I was personally threatened or not, I would do it. I could not live with myself if I did nothing and let others die.

And yet there have been numerous stories on this sight, icluding a video of some old guy in a cafe hopping up, pulling out his pistol, and putting numerous rounds into a bad guy that had not threatened him at that point.

I guess I am cut from a different cloth because if I had a chance to stop a shooter, whether I was personally threatened or not, I would do it. I could not live with myself if I did nothing and let others die.

In a SHTF situation are you just as willing to give away all the food and supplies you have collected to some strangers who did nothing to prepare themselves at the cost of your own hardship ?

Depending on your answer you may need to re-think your signature line.

I almost killed a guy with a can of cat food one time..
3 a.m. old lady bitching the cats are hungry.. WTF do I care if the cats are hungry.. Up too the local all night Quick Mart..
Guy behind the counter puts his hands up. Guy at the counter staring at him.
No gun with me. Uh oh this is not good.
So I go Ninja, grab a can of Friskies, think it was.. Start sneaking up on the perp. Seconds from smashing the back of his noodle in with the cat food, too meet his 70 virgins.
Suddenly guy behind the counter says..
"Four blocks up, take a left."
Poor customer was just asking directions and the clerk was waving his arms pointing..
Man that was close..

"Man needs but two things to survive alone in the woods. A blow up female doll and his trusty old AK-47" - Thomas Jefferson 1781

I almost killed a guy with a can of cat food one time..
3 a.m. old lady bitching the cats are hungry.. WTF do I care if the cats are hungry.. Up too the local all night Quick Mart..
Guy behind the counter puts his hands up. Guy at the counter staring at him.
No gun with me. Uh oh this is not good.
So I go Ninja, grab a can of Friskies, think it was.. Start sneaking up on the perp. Seconds from smashing the back of his noodle in with the cat food, too meet his 70 virgins.
Suddenly guy behind the counter says..
"Four blocks up, take a left."
Poor customer was just asking directions and the clerk was waving his arms pointing..
Man that was close..

You don't have to be especially religious to appreciate the common sense of Renegadebuck's biblical quote. If you know it is the right thing to do, do it!

I would like to think that I would have the courage to try to protect someone else's family as much as I hope that someone would look after mine in my absence.

Getting involve in other peoples problems can give unexpected results these days but I don't think that should stop you. My wife and I were sitting in a booth at a restaurant and the fellow behind me started slapping his wife/girlfriend across the table. I didn't think about it, I just got up and popped him with a couple good fists while he was sitting in his seat at his booth. All he said was, " The bitch started it! " . The woman , on the other hand, was furious that I hit the gent. She was screaming that I was bigger than him and that I didn't give him a chance. They were the ones that called the police. The cops said that although it was commendable of me, it was also stupid because the guy had a gun on him.
The guy was hauled off. I'll bet the woman had a long night when he was released.
I don't think I would do much different next time.

Interesting scenario, As we all know the use of deadly force should always be used as a last resort. there are several things to consider, is the nut waving around a firearm? dose he have it pointed at the ground. There are things to be considered before you act first of all have your weapon ready in case you have to act quickly! call the police if you have the time to do so. Now if this nut job raises his gun to fire! get his attention quickly if possible and make sure you have the gunman in your sites and only he will be hit during gunfire exchange. Im not sating that all laws are correct in fact we have a long way to go. But here is a few things to remember in an Officer Involved Shooting right off the bat your looking at a minimum of of 100,000 or more for legal counsel. the police have legal reps that cover thier ass and even that dont work, You can avoid Criminal Charges and have what is called a clean shoot, But there is still the matter of a civil action if the family chooses to bring one. I have been involved personally where a suspicious person had fled away when I was attempting to stop him for various reasons, the suspect fled, Only to come back out of a residence with his hands under his hoody, as if He was reaching for a gun! I informed the suspect to freeze where he was, and he told me I was going to die! beacuse and I quote" You dont know who your F****ng with I'm a gangster!. At this I pulled my service weapon and he was now at gun point! I againg told him to pull his hands out slowly and there better not be anything in his hands but air! or eklse I would have no option to shoot. The suspect in this case kept advanceing towards me moving his hands under his hoodie I gave him one final command to stop and show me his hands, The suspect turned and fled the scene, The suspects sister was on my back running her mouth and you can guess what she was saying lol.
Needless to say several people went to jail that night for thier actions including the suspects sister for damaging police property ( City Police Car cracked the window!) the crowd that assembled was quick and by this time myself and another officer was very out numbered aprox 40 to three officers. until the calvery arrived that was one of the longest encounters I have ever had. Needless to say I filed my charges with the city attorney. and come to find out this dirtbag had a long list of pryors including Aggrivated Armed Robbery & and Assualt with a deadly weapon. I am happy to report that this darwin winner was apprehanded in less than 30 mins. and back to prison he went. And let me tell you this is a ton of paperwork for this type of situation. The main thing is you have one major responsibility, To go home at the end of the day unharmed, I dont suggest getting yourself shot Im telling you from experence it hurt like Hell!! ( keeping it clean!!!!) But in short you do have the right to defend others with the use of deadly force just make sure it is justifyable or you will be the one in cuffs. And here is another thing to remember, Shooting an Indivudal is always a last resort and theier are many factors to consider before pulling that trigger. Because once its done its done!! and one other thing to remember if you do shoot someone you must provide and get medical attention for the suspect you just shot. I have seen a couple of cases whre a armed Security Officer Stopped a Armed Robbery in progress the perp was killed with one shot to the head, The office Lost the Civil suit, beacuse of his training record with firarms, and due to only one shot beibng fired, the Hoodrat attorney was able to convince a jury that the Security Officere ment to kill the suspect due to the fact only one shot was fired to the suspects head( always fire more than one shot!) who was DOA at the crime scene. If there are any doubts in a situation like this, try to get others out of harms way and get the boys in blue ASAP! and do what you can to keep the situation from escalationg. And just so you know many people take CCW courses that are manditory by state law before you can be licensed to carry, These Instructors many of them are Law enforcement officers, and they do pay attention to what you may say when you are off in your little grouos at class. and guess what you may be very surprised at what at instructor may say when he or she is called to testify at a eveidence hearing, on your actions at the course, if you are trying to be a cowboy, or the Dirty Harry type. Remembner you onlu have a short time to think & react dont make the wrong desicion or it could cost you everything you have worked for, or will ever have.Sceanieros are practiced everyday by LEO Agencies, and Even they can get it wrong! in all the confusionteh best advise I can give is the choice to use deadly force is a big one, and if you are going to have to second guess your decision to escalate to deadly force, it may be better just to observe and report your findings and observations to the police this way you can avoid a costly legal troubles. And just one thing more if you happen to work for a security agency, find our what thier policy is for legal coverage for officer involved shootings, If they say that we dont have an attorney or anything like that ,time to fine a new employer!!!!,,Doc

If I'm pretty sure the guy is going to start shooting, then I am definitely going to step in, even if I'm not a CCW holder. Sorry, I'm wired to help people if I can. As already stated before, I would hope that someone in the same situation would do the right thing to save my family/friends, so from a karmic point of view, I would be inclined to help. I can understand the frustration that led to TRX's statement though.

Enforcement, NOT Amnesty!!!!!!

"If they’re going to come here illegally, apply for & receive assistance through a corrupted Government agency encouraging this lawless behavior, work under the table & send billions of dollars each year back to their families in Mexico, while bleeding local economies dry, protest in our streets waving their Mexican flags DEMANDING rights, while I have to press ’1′ for English, then they need to be shipped back to where they came from!" -Chad Miller